Branson on the Power of Biofuels and Elders

Sir Richard Branson, the entrepreneur, balloonist, spaceflight booster and social-environmental campaigner, held forth in a conversation with Alan Murray of The Wall Street Journal today, touching on a host of ways to make and lose money and try to build a better planet. Mr. Branson spoke excitedly about the planned December rollout of his commercial spacecraft and plans for his family, including his parents, to be the first to take a suborbital ride. He also spoke of the importance, whether riding a balloon in the jet stream or going up against British Airways as an aviation upstart 25 years ago, of “protecting the downside” and mused on why humans seemed to have a hard time with that kind of risk management when it was on the planetary scale. Here are some highlights:

[UPDATE, 10/30: The Elders group that Mr. Branson mentions below has gotten busy on the climate front, convening with grandchildren in Istanbul to make a point about how today’s decisions (or indecision) on energy and climate will mainly affect generations to come.]

Fighting the “Carbon War”: Every war needs a war room, and the war on carbon dioxide emissions is no different, he said, explaining why he helped create a “Carbon War Room” in Washington intended to exam all possible ways to cut emissions or remove the gas from the atmosphere. All options are on the table, he said, particularly direct intervention to pull carbon dioxide out of the air (the focus of his $25 million prize). “If we could come up with a geoengineering answer to this problem, then Copenhagen wouldn’t be necessary,” he said. “We could carry on flying our planes and driving our cars.” (My guess is not everyone who reads this blog will embrace that reasoning.) He focused enthusiastically on biochar, the notion of turning waste plant material into charcoal and burying it.

Flying on Plant Power: By 2020, he hopes that fuel for his companies’ jet fleets will be derived from algae or consist of isobutanol, derived from sugars. The advantage of isobutanol, he said, is that unlike some other biofuels, it does not freeze at 15,000 feet and continues burning very well in the subzero temperatures as high as 35,000 feet. It has another merit, he added. “The world is awash in sugar,” he said. “Sugar is bad for you, so let’s put it in planes.” Mr. Murray quipped, “You’re listening to someone who’s in the soft drink business.”

On Obama and Climate: Asked about prospects for a meaningful climate agreement in Copenhagen in December, Mr. Branson noted both the importance of United States leadership and the constraints on President Obama. First, he said it was a shame that through eight years of stasis under President George W. Bush, “the world just came to a full stop on this issue.” But he added that the constraints placed on any president by the “convoluted” political system in the United States precluded Mr. Obama from stepping forward aggressively. Mr. Murray noted that China and India had refused to sign on to binding international targets like those in the Kyoto Protocol, creating another roadblock to an accord. Mr. Branson said that should not be an impediment. “I think China and India will both do a deal,” he said, adding that, in any case, “I don’t think we should use China and India as an excuse not to get our own houses in order.”
Elder Power: When asked about his priorities as a social and environmental activist, he put conflict resolution first, saying that health, economic development and environmental protection could not be guaranteed unless global trouble spots first have stability. He described “The Elders,” a kind of globe-trotting greek chorus of eminent gray-haired Watchmen, assembled by Nelson Mandela, who are working to get combatants and foes — from Israel to Zimbabwe — to build trust and find common ground.

Maybe The Elders should visit the Copenhagen climate talks, given that the youth delegations, so far at least, haven’t appeared to have much of an impact?

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By 2050 or so, the human population is expected to pass nine billion. Those billions will be seeking food, water and other resources on a planet where humans are already shaping climate and the web of life. Dot Earth was created by Andrew Revkin in October 2007 -- in part with support from a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship -- to explore ways to balance human needs and the planet's limits.